The discourse regarding Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy has to acknowledge the idea that he has made just six NFL starts, with notable missed time due to injuries. But he also seems to be regressing, and Week 12 against the Green Bay Packers was an unignorable low point.
McCarthy also emerged from that game with a concussion, and as expected, he will not be in uniform for Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer, who has appeared in three games this season, will make his first NFL start in a tough road environment against one of the top teams in the NFC. Expectations for him aren't necessarily high due to that circumstance, but it will be interesting to see how he does compared to what McCarthy has shown the last few weeks.
In a lot of respects, Brosmer really can't be any worse than McCarthy has been lately. There's a chance, however small it may seem, that Brosmer keeps the starting job for multiple games independent of McCarthy's health.
NFL insider offers sneakily harsh sentiment about Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy
During his appearance on "SportsCenter" Saturday morning, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler talked about Brosmer making his first NFL start.
"The Vikings know that they have something in Max Brosmer," Fowler said. "They felt like he had a really good preseason. I talked to multiple teams who said he was cool, calm, and collected in the preseason. He's an undrafted free agent, so the expectations aren't overly high. But I'm told just from a mental preparation standpoint, he's been really good, and they feel like, hey, maybe something can happen here."
Fowler noted how a similar situation played out in San Francisco almost exactly three years ago, when Brock Purdy started his first game for the 49ers after being the final pick of the 2022 draft. But then, albeit within the theme of praising Brosmer, the insider added a harsh sentiment about McCarthy.
"That's a lot of expectation to put on this guy (regarding comparing Brosmer to Purdy)," Fowler said. "However, there is some symmetry here when you have Kevin O'Connell's offense. They've got weapons."
"They feel like, at the very least, he's going to be probably more mentally prepared than they've had this season with the struggles of J.J. McCarthy."
Not that he would have anyway, with the fast, newsy format of the segment, but Fowler did not expand on his final note regarding the Vikings' quarterback situation. But what he did say was plenty.
The questions about McCarthy to this point have been rooted in his physical struggles, namely, inconsistent throwing mechanics, as the root of his poor accuracy. But Fowler, presumably with information he received from somewhere, has now invited questions about his mental preparation in comparison to Brosmer.
The Vikings clearly overestimated McCarthy's readiness to be their starting quarterback this season. Even the faint idea that he has not done the work behind the scenes like he could or should brings another level of questions into play, with plenty of tentacles to those inquiries.